Padua The second best of everything

Our few days in Padua or Padova as it is known, have been a little more relaxing.
It is famous for the Chapel of Scrovegni that is covered, walls and ceilings with paintings by Giotto. They only allow 25 people at a time and you need to wait in a dehumidifying room. They aim to protect the artworks but it was a chance to cool off! You normally need to book days in advance but we added Padua to our itinerary at the last minute. We were very lucky to get in without waiting

                                                    A warning to naughty children!

Padua is considered to have the second best fresh markets in all of Italy. The prize went to Bologna. The local market had a wonderful collection of fruit and vegetables. The largest tomatoes, make that the second largest tomatoes we have seen, the smallest beans and the freshest zucchini flowers. We tried to restrain ourselves but did buy enough figs to take on board our cruise in a few days to feed the passengers and crew!

There are lots of piazzas. We visited about eight. In the morning they can be wall to wal  market squares some with food others with clothing. By afternoon this is all cleared away and it becomes a series of bars with gelato shops around the edges. At night the bars change to restaurants and dining continues till late.

Our prize for the best bar went to the aptly named Bar Code mainly due to the best free nibbles that they dispensed. The runner up went to Bar Hendrix mainly for the table decorations of flowers in Hendricks bottles. The drinks were the same everywhere with Aperol spritz for the girls and Campari spritz or beer for the boys.

Padua has the second largest square in the world or is it Europe. The prize went to Moscow but in Padua the square has a huge Basilica, a palace a roman theatre and the worlds oldest botanical gardens established by the Padua university that is probably the second oldest!! It does have the first medical theatre constructed so that students could watch operations.

We visited several museums, the Duomo and Baptistry but will remember our stay in Padua for relaxing times sitting in the piazzas researching the best bar